The Games of the Siblings
by CallMeAlly
Summary: The story of the longest Hunger Games ever. The story of the deaf boy who was forced to go into the arena with his sister. The story of love, hate, revenge, sorrow, and twists. A story about a songbird, who had everything taken away from her until she had nothing, not even her music. The 100th Quarter Quell is here, and no one is prepared for what is coming.
1. Some Backstory

**Hey everyone! So this is my take on what would maybe happen if Katniss and Peeta didn't win the games! I had this story uploaded before, but I had to delete my own account, and I made some changes to the story. Let me know what you think! Thanks for giving it a chance! Oh and I know this chapter isn't the best, I promise it will get better. :) thanks for reading! I do not own Hunger Games. **

"People are getting sick of these games," Said one man, who wore a blue tie. "It tends to be the same thing every year, and we're loosing our audience." Said the head gamemaker, who paced in front of the others."What do you suggest?" Said one with a red bow tie. "I suggest, we get started on the quell now. I want it big. I want it bad, and I want as many twists as possible, to keep the people of their toes, of course." The room became silent. "The quell is three years away, sir. Are you suggesting we start on the arena now?" Said the man with the red bow tie. "Yes, I want a team working on it now. I want you to make it good. I want you to make it the best games we have ever seen." The team of men immediately set to work. The man in charge, with the blue tie, grabbed the arm of the second in charge. "Do not disappoint." The man with the red bow tie nodded, before preparing for the biggest and best games in history, preparing for the 100th Hunger Games.

**Three years later**

"_Look out!" _My voice screeched as we flew down the grassy hill at high speed. I gripped my brother tighter as our make shift sled flew over a small ramp, sending both of us flying into the air. I let out another scream as we flew towards the barn. I gripped the edges as the piece of tin roof made contact with the red doors, sending them flying open with a massive bang. The chickens, of course, freaked out, all of them flying in every direction possible. Once the cloud of feathers and wings died down I stood up to find my little brother in a heap a few feet away, laughing hysterically. Once I saw he wasn't harmed a bent over in laughter too. I jumped when my older brother grabbed my shoulders.

"What the heck are you doing?!" He cried, picking up a bucket of spilled seeds from the dusty ground. I rubbed away a tear of laughter. "Jay and I were just having some fun, lighten up a little." He shot me a death glare. "I'll lighten up when your chores are done. Having you in the house is like having to watch over a baby." He snapped. I sighed. He was just in a pissy mood since the reaping was tomorrow. He'll get over it. I helped Jay dust off his shirt and he scampered off to the house. I watched him go. Sparrow shot me another glare. "For once can you just do what you're supposed to? Even Jay is helping and he can't even understand what we're saying." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah well it's fine to let him have a little fun before tomorrow, he may not be able to hear, but he's smart enough to understand the reaping." Sparrow started to head to the fields. "I don't have time for this. Clean out the stable before dinner."

I mumbled a retort that only I could hear before grouchily picking up the pitch fork. Making my way to the barn, I started getting lost in my thoughts. I'm not worried about the reaping. You have the smallest chance of getting your name pulled in district ten, seeing we're the most populated. A lot of farm land means a lot of work. A lot of work means a lot of workers. A lot of workers means having a lot of kids to help get stuff done. We try to deny it, but it's not hard science, people. I come from your average district ten family. Four kids and two loving parents. My oldest brother, Lark, left the district when I was four.

A few years ago district hopping was forbidden, but now they've loosened up on the strict rules they keep over the districts. Many people can land jobs in other districts and leave their home one for another, as long as they fill out the proper paperwork. So once Lark got his eyes on some rich and fancy district two lady, it was goodbye district ten and hello two. It never bothered my mom too much, seeing she was never fond of him anyways. I mean she loved him of course but he was never a hard worker. I never had much feeling for the subject since I was only four.

My older brother, Sparrow, has always been a hard worker. He usually worked with my father out in the fields all day, even when he was little. I usually wanted to help, too. But if I tried Father would stop me. "Now remember here, Wren, the farm land ain't not place for a lady. You stay in the kitchen with your Mama, ya hear?" He would then tip his hat and head out with Sparrow. My Mama would role her eyes and kneel down to look me in the eye. "Remember here, Wren." She said in a voice like honey. "You can do anything you put your mind to. Don't Listen to your father, no matter what, understand?" I would smile and nod.

When I was six my youngest brother came. I loved him at once, but my father and mother knew something was wrong and different. After two visits to the doctor it was confirmed that he was deaf. He would never be able to hear. My father wanted to get rid of him, send him to the orphanage. My mother refused. She said if he ever dared to think of getting rid of Jay she would leave him. I admired her for sticking up for Jay, even though some might consider him useless. He learned, slowly, but he did. Mother taught him how to do chores around the house and barn, and I was impressed.

Jay isn't an idiot, that's for sure. He's smarter then people would think. My Mothers persistence payed off, because he finally learned how to read and write when he was seven. He understood words and the meaning of them. I had gone to the library and bought some book on some old form of talking for deaf people, involving hand signs and motions. I had started to teach Jay some words, but before we could get very far Mama grew ill.

I finished laying the hay down in the horse stable. I sighed and rubbed the nose of my mothers old mare. Soon I decided I should go see if Jay had been successful with cooking dinner and left the stables. I walked in to see three bowls of soup on the table. I looked into the deep brown eyes of Jay as he looked upon the sad meal with pride. I gave a weak smile. Mama always said food was one of the greatest joys in life. We hadn't had a full meal since her passing. The two of us ate silently. That was one thing I had grown used to, living in this house. Silence.

Soon Sparrow returned. He quickly scarfed down his meal. Without another word I blew out the candle. I climbed the stairs to my room, and Jay followed me. Sparrow and I used to share a room, but now that our parents are gone he just used theirs. I climbed into my bed and Jay climbed into his. My mind was semi concerned about the reaping tomorrow, but it would work out. It did every year. My family had had more then enough bad luck, so we should be fine. I was only concerned seeing it was the quell. The 100th game. It was supposed to be bigger and badder then ever. My mind was wondering what the game makers had in store, and soon I finally let sleep take me.

I woke up before the sun was up like every morning. Usually I would wake up Sparrow and he would head to the lands, but since today no one would work, I let him sleep in. I turned on my dresser light, checking to make sure I wouldn't wake Jay. I pulled out some of my mothers old makeup. I only ever used it for very fancy occasions. As I delicately rubbed some blush on my defined cheek bones, I looked myself over.

People always told me I looked like my Mama. I had her big eyes a pretty innocent face. I could never really see it, though. I wished that I had gotten her dark brown eyes like Jay had, but I instead got my fathers piercing green ones. And instead of getting her curly brown hair I got my fathers deep red, slightly curled hair. I didn't mind it. It always seemed to fall neatly over my shoulders and down my back. I didn't mind the color either, it stood out. _That wouldn't be good for the games. _I thought. I quickly shook the feeling. I added some lipstick to finish it off. I slipped on my mothers old mint green dress and smoothed out the skirt. It finally fitted me. My small frame never really could pull off any of my mothers clothes. I guess I had grown a little up top since last year. I looked myself over one more time. I stepped outside and headed for town.

As I walked along the rolling hills I got lost in my thoughts again. I tend to do that on my way to town. The dress still reminded me of Mama. It still had the faint smell of her fancy daisy perfume my Father had gotten her. She died four years ago when I was fourteen. It came as a shock to all of us. A normal visit to the doctor, and she came home and gently broke the news to us. A rare condition that only gave her four more months. We made the most out the little time we had left with her. I went with her to every doctor appointment, finding the high technology fascinating. I loved learning about what the medicine would do to help her, and what the machines did. She slipped away as peacefully as possible. I'll never forget what she said to me before the line went flat. I'll never forget her eyes slowly closing. I'll never forget the grip she had on my hand, and how it left in a moment. But I'll spare you for hearing that sob story… for now.

My father took it the hardest. He became abusive. He mostly hit Sparrow and occasionally me. He never laid a hand on Jay, though. He knew how much Mama would hate that. He stopped working, leaving Sparrow on his own, I knew he would hate it, so I hid the fact that I got a job at the hospital as a nurse. I told him I was going to take the horses out for a trail ride, and I wouldn't come back until late. My lie was obvious, but he was normally too drunk to notice. His sorrow only grew, until he didn't want to look at me because my face reminded him too much of my mothers. One day I came home to find Jay making dinner as usual, and Sparrow was out working. I couldn't find him anywhere. I went to the barn and saw a note nailed to the door. The cold realization sunk in, and without thinking I flung the door open. His body hung by the rafters, the rope tight around his neck. The force of the door flying open made his body sway a little as it hung in the air. I fell to my knees and screamed. Sparrow was there in a moment. He just stood there. Like he knew it was coming. I called my friend Manthy, bawling hysterically. He came down and helped cut the body down with Sparrow. That was that.

I hated my father. I never remembered the good times. Like him teaching me to play guitar. Or him showing me how to ride, or singing by the fire. No, not any of that. I only remembered him being a selfish idiot, and leaving the rest of his family behind to be alone and figure out how to survive. He was selfish and I hated him. I never read the note. I took it and threw it in the fire. Whatever last words he had I didn't want to hear it. He could have stayed and he choose not to because he was a coward.

On that sour note I came upon town. I went to the regular meeting place and caught up with my three friends. I took a seat by Manthy. I always hung out with my three friends I had made in school. Manthy, who was a year older then I was, was kind of a looker. All that work on his land had for sure made him toned, and he was very physically active. He raised cattle and sold them to the higher districts. We had been friends since we were very little. Then there were the twins, even though they looked exactly the same, they were polar opposite. Caff was super smart, and had a job at the school. Where as Natt wasn't the brightest, but was an amazing artist. The only difference was that Natt had long, beautiful golden hair that went to her butt, and Caff had an adorable bob haircut.

We sat like any other day and caught up. It was as if the reaping wasn't even happening. Me and Manthy had a conversation on the book we were reading, A Tale of Two Cities, were the twins argued over what color looked better on them. "You nervous at all, Wren?" Manthy questioned. I picked up a piece of straw and put it in my mouth, rolling it over my back teeth. "Nah, it'll be fine." I said and leaned back, taking in the market place that was unusually empty. My piece of straw moved around as I rolled it to the side of my mouth, the other side hanging lazily out of my mouth. "Yeah." He said and looked down. I cracked a joke to lighten the mood and he laughed. To be honest, I was a little nervous. It was the quell. It's only a big deal. We talked like usual before we had to start making our way to the town square.

"It'll be fine. There's like a billion people in our district." Manthy smiled at me.

"Yeah. We'll be ok."


	2. The Reaping

**Hey everyone! I hope that I'm not going through this too fast. Sorry for another boring chapter, but it will pick up I swear! Oh and if anyone spots any errors, let me know! I hope you guys like it, and let me know how I can do better! I do not own Hunger Games. **

**-Ally **

I kicked a stone along the dirt road as we walked to the town square. Manthy put a comforting arm around my shoulder. I took a moment to be grateful for his strong arms and reassuring smile. He and I had been friends since as long as I could remember. Our families had been friends, so we were of coursed kind of forced to be buddies at family dinners. It worked out well, we had the same interests. The most common thing would be our love of learning. We've both always loved school, science was my favorite, and math his. In the first grade we had made the twins our friends, and we had a pretty nice friend group going on, even though we were considered the outcasts for reading Shakespeare during break instead of playing kickball.

I was fine with my odd ways of looking at maps while others ate lunch. Only once did I ever question myself and my confidence was shaken, that was when I met Sam Jones. Now that was a memory. It was a normal day after school, I sat under the tree outside of the room as the others played dodgeball. Just as I was about to turn the page to see what happened to Hamlet after he killed his uncle, a shadow spread over the pages. I blinked and looked up with my eight year old eyes to see the eight year old eyes of Sam glaring down at me. "What's that? Another one of those stupid nerd books?" I rolled my eyes and looked down without responding. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" He kicked the book from me and it landed in the mud. I starred in horror. "My book!" I screamed, picking up the sticky and muddy mess. I desperately tried to wipe away the dripping mess with the sleeve of my jacket. I guess I'll never know how Hamlet ends. I felt anger burn in my chest.

With a leap of fury I tackled him to the ground. No one messes with my books! The force knocked him down with a thud of surprise. We rolled around in the mud, trying to swing some hits at each other. Only a few moments into the fight the school teacher ripped us off each other. "Stop this at once!" She demanded. "What is going on here?" I looked at the crowd that had gathered around us and felt the lump in my throat grow. Tears went down my check, mixing with the dirt. "Sam ruined my book!"

That night I got a hard beating from my father for being involved with a fight. My Mama came to my room as I lay there sniffling. "Hey, Wren," She said and sat on the edge of my bed. "I'm sorry you had a bad day." I sniffed again. "That Jones boy ruins everything. He hates me because I'm different." Mother rubbed my back. "You're not different! You're just smarter then the other kids." I sat up and rubbed my nose with my sleeve. "Really?" She smiled at me. "Of course! Wren, whoever is bullying you is the lower person, they want to make you down just to bring them down the their level. Remember that next time Sam picks on you."

I did just that. The next time I sat under the tree with the twins and Menthy and talked about class when Sam walked up to us. "You nerd faces doing math homework now?" He spat on the ground. I saw Menthy tense up. I just took a deep breath and rolled my eyes. "Sam, why don't you go somewhere else before you embarrass yourself anymore. You look like an idiot." I could tell he was shocked by the fact that I used words instead of trying to punch him. "Well… At least I…" He stumbled with his words, trying to find a good comeback. "She's right. You're only making a fool of yourself." Manthy said, sticking up for me. His face grew red with anger before he turned around and stormed off. I felt myself swell with pride.

After school I started walking home. I saw the Jones boy jog to catch up with me. _Does he ever give up? _I thought bitterly as I walked faster. "Wait up!" He said as he finally caught up to me and matched my stride. "Miss Payuss said I had to apologize for picking on you again, and if I didn't I wasn't allowed to come to the class fair next week." I rolled my eyes and walked faster. "Wait up!" He said and caught up. "Look I'm sorry I keep making fun of you." I slowed down a little. "I don't care." I snapped, before going to my favorite tree and sitting down. He plopped down next to me. "What book is that anyways." He said. I closed it and showed him the cover. "It's called Moby-Dick, it's about a white whale. Now will you leave me alone?" I flipped it back open and kept reading. "Look, I only pick on you because I'm jealous you're so smart." I froze. I stared at him for a solid minute just to be sure it wasn't some trick. "What are you talking about, you've been bullying me for two years," I said, surprised by this. "I know. I just wish I got grades like you did, that's all." I looked down, feeling almost guilty for all the times I had fought with him. "I'll leave you alone now." He stood up to leave. "Wait," I said, hoping I wouldn't regret my offer I was about to make. "If you want I can help you with your homework and stuff, I mean I'm pretty good at explaining stuff." He smiled.

That was how I made my best friend. We hung out every recess, I would help him with math and english, and then I would teach him about all the stuff I learned on my own, geography and science. In a little bit he had been getting perfect scores on his tests. We would hang out every day in my barn or in his tree house, life was good. Normally in District 10 school is over for boys once they turn 12, seeing work in the fields was more important. I kept going though, and once I was done with school and he was done working we would meet up and I would teach him everything I had learned in class. It was good for both of us. We went on so many adventures together, got in so much trouble together, we were in class plays together, we learned together, and we grew together. He was there for me every step of the way when my mother died.

My mothers time was almost up. He normally came over to help take my mind off of my Mama. Sam and I sat up in the loft, me laying on my back and him playing with a piece of straw. "So what do you want to do when you get out of school?" He asked me. "I dunno," I said as I plucked a piece of straw from my hair. "I think I want to be a doctor. I Like to heal people. You?" He swayed his legs over the side of the loft, he played with my fire red hair that was sprawled out around us. "I think I want to be a teacher." I couldn't help but smile to myself. We both had come so far from our eight year old selves. I looked at the now fourteen year old Jones boy, Strong and built, but with a kind face and heart. I was glad we were friends.

My Dad came into the barn at that moment. He gave me a look and I knew. Mother didn't have much time left. That was the day she died. I sought comfort in Sam, he was there for me more then Manthy and more then the twins. For two weeks I grieved and he was there, and then by the end of the second week he came over, holding something wrapped in brown paper with a note on it. He was crying. Never before had I seen Sam cry, I was so shocked. "What? What's going on?" I asked. "Wren, I…I'm changing districts with my family." I felt the cold shock sink in. "What? Where? When?" I asked, feeling my heart sink. He looked down and shook his head. "I leave with my parents and sisters later tonight, we're going to go to district six for a job my parents got." I felt like the air had gotten kicked out of my lungs. "I… I don't understand." He looked at me with his sad blue eyes. "I was going to tell you, Wren, but then your Mother died and I didn't have the heart… I'm sorry. I'll write you every day, I promise, we'll see each other again, I promise." I felt the tears spill down my face. "You owe me at least one more hour together." So we did. We hung out like usual in the barn loft. Talking about how we would keep in touch and reliving childhood memories.

After a good hour he had to go. He handed me the brown package. "Wren, I… I'm… going to miss you." He said as he fought to find words. I gave a sad smile and wrapped my arms around him. "Thanks for being my friend." He embraced me back and then left without another word. That night I opened the brown package, revealing a brand new copy of Hamlet, I felt my heart swell. I gently opened the note and read it.

_Wren,_

_Thank you so much for the years we had together, you taught me so much about how precious our world is, thank you for our adventures. I'll never forget them. Let me know if you ever need anything, ever. _

_Love, Sam Jones. _

I smiled as the tears rolled down my face. We wrote each other all the time, but I had to stop once my dad took his life. I dropped out of school and took on a nursing job which was just enough money to keep our family from starving. I hadn't heard from the Jones boy in years. I missed him all the same though, and I kept the note under my pillow.

oOoOoOoO

We made it to the town square and I had to say goodbye to Manthy and the twins. "Good luck." I smiled at them. They wished me the same and I went off to find my brothers. It didn't take me long to find them as they stood waiting for me. Jay was still a year before he had to put his name in, but since this year was the Quell they were making just about everyone, Jay included. I felt my heart race, normally they announced the Quell the night before, but for the third Quell many people in the districts had tried to run away once it was announced. It was on an island that worked as a clock, each time of the clock had another horror in store for the tributes. The tributes that year were all older, from ages 20 to 30. Once the older ones had heard this, many tried to escape their Districts, so now they decided to announce the Quell the day of the reaping.

The Hunger Games had taken a turn for the worse. It no longer struck fear in the districts as it used to. It became a normal thing to sacrifice two children every year. No one seemed to care any more. It was the same thing every year, kids die and someone wins. The Capital was even starting to get tired of the same thing. The Games last year was the worst, it was in a desert and everyone pretty much died if dehydration. There was no story to it anymore, only bloody deaths. The last Hunger Games that was good was the one of the two tributes from 12. They fell in love during the games, but were both brutally killed in the end by the boy from 2, after that no one seemed to bother watching anymore, which pissed off the people in charge, so I'm sure they're going to have something big in store this year.

I gave both my brothers a hug in silence as I went on my way to the side were all the females stood. I tried my to calm my racing heart by smoothing my mint green dress down. I tucked a chunk of red hair behind my ear and stood still. It will for sure be a big game this year, The capital was definitely trying to make a come back. Instead of having two bowls of names there was one big one. I could only guess what was in store. The concerned murmur died down once our escort walked on stage.

Our escort was, like most escorts, female. She had been our escort for about as long as I could remember, and her age was definitely catching up to her. She tried to hide her wrinkles with about an inch of makeup, and her hair looked more fake then everyone in the capital put together. Not only did she look super crazy, but she was a complete idiot. The worst was that she seemed to act like more of an idiot then she actually was. I watched in annoyance as she stumbled on stage with her billion inch heels and horrifyingly short skirt. I wanted to barf.

"Good afternoon, District 10!" She said in a voice that sent shivers down my back. "As most of you know, my name is Mally! What a year this will be! Here I have the envelope that will announce our Fourth Quarter Quell!" She was so stupid she thought she had to yell into the microphone. She waved the envelope around like we should all be worshiping it or something, I sighed and crossed my arms. She delicately opened the envelope and pulled out the paper with her fingers, being careful as to not break her freakishly long nails. She smiled and cleared her throat. "For the Fourth Quarter Quell, each district will send one pair of siblings, weather it be male, female, or both, to fight for the honor of winning the Hunger Games." She read slowly. A small hush went over the audience as she kept going. "This year two tributes will come out as victors." She folded the letter and placed it on the table that the glass bowl full of unfortunate family members that would be forced to survive together.

Only once has the option of two victors ever been mentioned, and that was the 74th games. I wasn't born yet, but the rules had changed and the option of two victors was there, my parents had told us the two had come close, but the boy from two had slain them. I couldn't believe that they were allowing both siblings to come out together, seeing it seemed they would rather see them fight to the death. Maybe that was too low, even for the Capital. I tried to block out the panic I saw in some of the eyes of the people. I looked at the twins and saw them hold each other in fear. It seemed to upset the everyone. "Well, with that I guess I shall draw the names then?" She said as if it were an option.

Everything seemed to almost go in slow motion. She took tiny steps over to the bowl, and looked at it for a moment. She reached in and stirred it around before dramatically reaching down and scooping one up from the bottom, enjoying every moment of the suspense everyone held. I made eye contact with Sparrow from the other side of town square and he looked just as worried as I did. She held the piece of paper and waved it around in the air a little.

I held my breath like every year as the unfolded it slowly.

Her lips parted to read the two unfortunate souls.

_Please please please. _I thought and closed my eyes.

"Wren and Jay Willson?"

oOoOoOoOo

Sometimes, when I was little, I would plan in my head the reaction I would have if my name was ever pulled. I wouldn't cry, I wouldn't scream, I wouldn't beg. I would hold my head high and walk up on that stage like a hero. I would face my fate with pride. Never had I thought what I would do if Jays name was pulled, not to mention his and mine together.

I felt the eyes of thousands of people on me, the people that could have had their name pulled. They all knew me, the poor Willson girl, whose Mother died of illness and whose father committed suicide, who was left to take care of her poor deaf brother, who worked just to keep her family from starving. I felt someone nudge me from behind and I stumbled forward. Instinct took over and I thought about making a run for it, but then realized how stupid that would be with all the peacekeepers everywhere. I tried to swallow but my throat was suddenly dry.

It wasn't until my legs started moving that I realized Jay had his name pulled, it dawned on me in horror that there was nothing I could do. _No, _I thought. _They won't make him go in, they can't. He's deaf. There has to be a rule about it. _I forced myself to hold my head high as my feet gently took the steps up the stage. I tucked the stray piece of hair behind my ear again. I looked to my side and realized Jay somehow got the memo he needed to come up too, his eyes confused and scared. I grabbed his hand as Mally skipped over to us. "Ah! What a lovely pair!" I swallowed and spoke into the microphone, my voice cracked. "I… Jay, he… He can't go into the Hunger Games, He's deaf." I spoke, looking back into the sad eyes of my people. I heard the click of the escorts heals as she stepped over to the whisper to one of the peacekeepers, the hush that was over the audience was heavy and sad. I finally came across the eyes of Sparrow, whose face I could not read. Manthy stood by him, tears of horror ran down his face. He didn't even try to hide it.

Once the whispering stopped Mally talked into the microphone again. "I am afraid that those with disabilities are still required to compete in the games, so with that, let us all give a hand for our Fourth Quarter Quell sibling tributes!" She had to end the reaping fast. They didn't want to give the people time to object, or to try and fight back over the fact that they were sending a young deaf boy into the games. Everyone did as they were told and clapped. I looked into the crowd of sad eyes as they gave me pity. The only ones who I saw not clapping were the twins, Manthy, and Sparrow, all stood stone still.

And just as fast I was on the stage, I was off. My brother still held a grip on my hand as we walked, the grip reminding me the one my mother had the moment before she died. We walked into an elevator, my brother scribbled something in his notebook, while I stood still still by the two peacekeepers who were sending us to be killed. I felt a tug at my arm and Jay handed me the notebook.

_It's happening, isn't it. _He had written in his sloppy hand writing.

I took the notebook down and quickly scribbled what was happening and what would happen. We would say goodbyes and be sent off to the capital. I finished my paragraph off with:

_Don't worry Jay, we'll get through this, we always do. I'll protect you._

The doors opened again and I looked into his face one last time before we went to our separate rooms. It was a lot to take in for him. He wouldn't have had to worry about the games, he was still too young. He never should have had his name pulled. I embraced him once more and we split for now.

I stood there for two minutes as the twins sobbed and hugged me. I was in shock. This would be the last time I would see them. My friends who had always been there for me, I would never see again. The whole situation felt numb, it felt unreal. I wanted to cry but I couldn't, I couldn't allow myself to believe that this was happening. They both were escorted out of the room. They never even said a word, they just cried. I watched as the door closed them out, there sad faces that I would never see again. This is just a nightmare. A sick and twisted dream. Sometimes I would dream I would be reaped, but never me and Jay. It was just a dream, the worst dream ever, then I would wake up and go meet up with my friends. I sat on the sofa, afraid to move or talk.

The door opened and Manthy walked in. It was at that moment I broke down. I was going to the Hunger Games with Jay, and we were both toast. I sat and cried as Manthy held me, his presence surrounded me. I cried as he spoke into my hair. "Wren, look at me," My eyes met with his. They were red and tear stained. I would never see those eyes again. "Don't decide that this is how you die." I gave him a confused glance and wanted to argue, instead he kissed the top of my head and pressed something cold and hard into my hand. Before another word was spoken they had taken him away. So many words left unspoken between us, so many adventures we could have taken. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying more.

Last was Sparrow. Once we walked in my heart filled with anger. "You… You could have volunteered!" I cried before the door shut. It took all my will power not to hit him in anger. "Yeah, and then who would have watched over him? Don't be an idiot, Wren." He spat. "Look, I love you, Wren, please, please try." I glared at him. "It's not like I have a chance, it's not like either of us have a chance, Sparrow!" He wrapped his arms around me. "Just try, Wren. Take care of him, ok?" I looked into his eyes and saw his genuine love for both of us. He had lost both parents, and all of his efforts to keep us safe failed, now he wasn't loosing just one but both siblings, the last of his family. I tried to bite back tears. "I love you, Sparrow, take care of the horses." I smiled, wanting his last memory of me to be something positive. He smiled as tears ran down his face. "I wont let anyone touch the horses."

Then he was gone. Too fast. Sparrow, who had been a parent to me, who had taken care of me, who had been one of the two things I had left. I held back a sob. I tried to hold onto all of the memories of everyone. The twins laugh, Manthys soft and loving eyes, Sparrow and his heavy District 10 accent that he had gotten from my father, were I had gotten my Mamas soft and gentle voice. I sat there and opened my hand to see what Manthy had given me. A locket. My locket. I had gotten it from my Mama, and put a picture of her in one side and a picture of my Father in the other. He must have gotten it for me, to be my token.

I didn't have long to think before they came and got us. I held Jays hand, his eyes were far more red and tear stained then mine, but he put on a brave face. Hand in hand we walked to the train, saying goodbye to our home forever.


	3. Headed for the Capital

**Hey everyone! So here is the next chapter :) Let me ****know**** if I can improve on anything or ****you**** have any ideas! Oh and I promise it will pick up later! :) Please review! I do not own Hunger Games.**

We had to stay in the middle of a protective circle that the Peacekeepers made, seeing the whole District was furious about sending Jay to the Games. There had been kids sent in with disabilities before, but not as bad as sending in a deaf boy. Once I stepped on the train I stole a quick glance at the crowd. Most were screaming, some were pushing, and few were full out fighting. I felt tears brim my eyes as the two doors came together, shutting out my home. I put my hand on the door as the train pulled away. Tears ran down my face as I realized I would never see my home again, never see the horses again, or the rolling hills, or the river, or the barn.

I loved my home, we were one of the poorer Districts, but we were happy. Each of the 12 Districts has a different thing they supply the Capital with, ours being beef. Almost every family had a plot of land filled with a heard of cows, who raised and fed them, let them live in the fields until they were fat enough to send to the butcher house, where they were killed and sent to the Capital. Our field consisted of only ten cows, since that was all Sparrow could handle on his own, and it was enough to let us keep living in the house. So that's how District Ten worked. A lot of farm houses and huge and beautiful fields filled with cows that the men would work on from dawn until dusk, five days a week.

It would be a pretty sad life if we didn't have Saturday and Sunday off. Those were the two days everyone could agree are the best. Some people kicked back a chilled, while some just have some fun, which would be what my friends and I do. Some weekends we would have a bonfire and sing songs, or other weekends we would swim in the river, before my Mama died we would go on a trail ride with our horses around the empty land. Our District was full of homey and friendly people, we kept to old traditions and way of life and I loved it. Life was awfully nice in 10 as far as I was concerned, work during the week and have fun on weekends, it was a good life, besides the fact of the yearly reaping.

I finally decided the look around on the train, my feet gently stepping on the soft carpet, almost as if I was afraid if I stepped too hard I would get it dirty. I saw Jay sitting there, doodling in his notebook and still having a look of shock on his face from the days events. I gently sat down at the brown square table in the middle of the train car. It had a tall stand in the middle of it, and on the stand sat a beautiful assortment of tea sandwiches. I picked one up and bit into it, savoring the mix of flavors in my mouth.

My mind went through what would happen once the two day journey to the Capital was over. Jay and I would go our separate ways for the day and meet our stylists. They would make us look pretty for the chariot ride that evening, and then we would sleep. That was day one. Then all of the tributes would have three whole days of training. Three days to get a skill to murder other kids. Three days to gain something that will let me survive longer then I normally would. Only three days. I sighed and ran my finger through my now loose hair. The third day we would preform our skill in front of the Gamemakers, who would judge us and give us a number score, which would strongly determine if we would get sponsors or not. Finally, we would have a two minute interview with the famous, and very old, Cesear Flickerman. Then the Games start the next day.

It was a lot to take in, and a lot to worry about. Not only did I have to worry about my survival, but now I had to worry about Jay. As I continued to think about the next week, Mally stepped into our car. Her face scrunched up in pain as she took off her massive high heels, causing her wrinkle lines to show more. "Oh my, you know what I love the most about this District?" She said as she walked barefoot over to the window Jay sat by. "I love the rolling pastures, and the beautiful sunsets." _Well, I can't argue with that. _I thought and tried not to roll my eyes. I picked up another sandwich and took a small nibble as I tried to continue my thought process, but she interrupted me again. "You know, you will both love the capital, people are very nice there, why I bet they'll find a lot of interest in the two of you seeing, well… You know." She said and motioned towards Jay, who still sat in thought. I opened my mouth to say something but she kept talking. "Oh! I almost forgot! Your mentors are going to be in here in a few minutes, so be peppy!" I smiled and nodded, almost forgetting about the people who would be training us.

In the 99 years of Huger Games only 4 victors had been from District 10. One of them had won the 20th Games, and had died of old age a while ago. A girl had won the 96th Games, but that year was a bad one, the arena being only flat land that blizzard the whole time, sheer luck and nothing else is what made her come out as a victor. No one ever really heard from her, she never trained the new tributes and never came out of the victor village back in 10. That left the other two, Falllu and Kespen.

Both were now older men, Fallu was older, he had won the 56th Games, in an arena that was high up in mountains, rocky ledges caused the death of many tributes, making them fall to their deaths. Fallu had won because he was strong and fast and coordinated in the rocky ledges. Kespen, however, was not only strong, but was a fast thinker. He had won the 87th Games, the arena being a normal forest, he had only made two kills the entire Game, and in the end he won by leading a boy from District 2 out in the lake, who ended up drowning himself. It was an impressive year. I hadn't ever really seen much of the two, but I longed for them to be at least slightly friendly, for Jays sake.

I sat up straighter in my seat when I heard the door open, and I held my chin high in hopes of looking stronger and more determined when there was obviously little hope in the two of us.

Fallu stepped in first. He was older, his hair and beard were white and long, his face had wrinkles and sagged in his older days, and he walked slowly with a slight limp, but his eyes still had a small sparkle to them. I could tell that getting along with him would be easy. Next stepped in Kespen. he was much younger then Fallu, but still older in age. He had dark hair that was styled messy, he still had a strong build and was the tallest in the room by a lot. He looked me up and down, not being discrete at all. I didn't look away when his brown eyes locked into my green ones, and I gave him a friendly smile in hopes of starting out on the right page. He gave a huff of annoyance and plopped down next to me as Fallu introduced himself and Kespen to us. He talked in a friendly old man voice, and I was suddenly very glad he was there.

"Hello, Wren and young Jay." He smiled as he said it but his voice dripped with pity as his eyes landed on Jay, who still sat by the window.

I smiled back. "Nice to meet you both."

"We'll be here to help train you and give you advice on how to live, any questions?" Kespen said as if he didn't want to be here.

"Um, yeah I have a few." I said awkwardly.

He raised his eye brows, wanting to get it over quick.

"Well, I mean, we only have one week so shouldn't you be giving us as much advice as possible with what little time we have?"

Kespen stood up. "Get back to me when you actually have a legit question."

Anger bubbled up in my chest and he walked out of the car. Wasn't he supposed to be mentoring me? Fallu walked over and patted my shoulder. "He'll warm up to you, he just… doesn't want to…"

I smiled in understanding as I finished his sentence for him. "Get attached before we're brutally killed?" I laughed despite how horrible it was. "I understand. Do you have any advice for me?"

"My advice: watch some old videos of past games and pick up as much information as you can on past victors, it helps I promise."

I smiled and nodded before making my way out of the car. Just as I was leaving I heard him say behind me, "May I talk to Jay?" I smiled and nodded. "His notebook is with him." With that the door shut.

OoOoOoOoO

I sat alone in the dark for two hours, watching a few famous clips from past Games. It was obvious that the Games became less popular as the years progressed. In the first few years they would on average last more then three weeks. In the past few years they had only been lasting around five days. No one in my District watched them anymore, and I'm sure in other Districts as well. I watched the ending of last year, as the boy from three finished off the girl from five, stabbing a sharp stick into her chest. She screamed and lay there twitching for a few moments, blood spilling from the wound in her heart, the light faded from her eyes and a canon sounded.

I used the remote to quickly shut of the monitor, a sick feeling in my stomach. I stood up and ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. How could no one see the sickness of what the Capital was doing? How could they not understand that everyone who fought in the Games had a life they wanted to go home to? It disgusted me. I looked at the clock and decided to meet up with everyone in the dining car for dinner. I stepped out of the dark room, trying to forget about all the dying children.

I was the last one to sit down for dinner, taking the last chair between Jay and

Kespen, both looking to not be in the mood to eat. I tried to give Jay a reassuring smile as I picked up my glass, taking a large swig of something sweet and cold. I liked it, and didn't bother asking what it was. Someone sat a large plate of salad in front of me, and I mixed it around while the other started chowing down on the leafy greens. I made eye contact with Fallu from across the table and he smiled. I returned the smile, grateful for at least one kind heart to help get us through. Kespen used the white napkin on his lap to wipe his face before speaking.

"Alright, now would be a good time to tell me what your strengths are so I can give you the best advice as possible." He said in an almost grouchy tone.

"Um, I don't think I have anything that will help me in the arena." I said and looked down at my plate.

"Nothing? Any weapons you know how to use? Any skills?" He said and picked out a black olive with his fork.

I felt a lump rise in my throat. "Nothing, I've never hurt a fly. I play guitar and ride horses." For the first time since my name was drawn I felt myself slip into complete hopelessness. I stood up from my seat in anger, my glass spilling over. "I can't do anything! Heck, I can do the complete opposite of what I'm supposed to do! I save lives, I couldn't imagine taking one!" Tears welled in my eyes. "I can't keep myself alive, nevertheless Jay! No matter what I tell myself we're both dead!" I didn't bother holding back my words, seeing Jay couldn't hear me anyway.

My eyes met the concerned ones of everyone else's. I turned away and left before anyone else could see me cry.

I went to my room on the train. It was bigger then mine back home, and a lot cleaner and nicer, but I wanted nothing more then to sleep in my own bed. I sat down on the corner, and the bed seemed to swallow me whole. I crossed my legs and tried to stay calm. I can do this. I can find a way to get me and Jay out, maybe we could jump the train and run. No, we wouldn't make it a mile. I balled my hands into fists and cringed when there was a knock on my door. I was surprised to see Kespen enter.

"Listen, it hurts me to see anyone go into the arena, nevertheless a pair of siblings who love each other, and Jay, who is, well…" I tried to hide my shock at his sudden affection. "Look, I'll help you. I'll teach you survival skills and some basic fighting moves. I want to see you get out of this. You have a chance, Wren. So I'll help you."

I let the tears fall freely down my face. I had lost so much, and now the weight of my life and my brothers sat on my shoulders. It was so much to cary. Kespen put an arm around my shoulder and I let him. He knew how bad my situation was, but he wasn't giving me pity like everyone else, he was giving me encouragement. I felt a surge of gratefulness for my mentor, who I had just met. I spluttered out "Thank you," Before letting out another sob.

He nodded. "Look, I'll help Jay with going to sleep so you can get some sleep now, tomorrow afternoon we'll get to the Capital, a lot of eyes will be on you because you and Jay will be the more popular tributes, so cry yourself out tonight and then I don't want to see this again. Put on a brave face, it'll help get sponsors, too." I nodded as he left my room. "Oh, and don't take this whole thing too personally, I'm only being nice because I see something in you I haven't seen in any tributes I've had before."

"What's that?" I asked and whipped my nose.

"Determination… and hope." With that the door shut.

I sat in silence for a few moments, breathing. I didn't even bother using the shower or even washing my face. I just lay there and cried. I cried for Jay, I cried for Sparrow back at home, who was all alone, I cried for my friends who must be having a bad night too, I cried for my mom and dad who left me, I cried for the other tributes, and I for what seemed to be the first time, I cried for myself. For the pressure I was carrying, for the next few days of worry before the Games, for how I would handle the Games. Finally I was done crying. I was done being selfish. Kespen said he saw hope and determination in me, and he was right. I will fight until my dying breath, that was for sure. Maybe I do only have a few days to live, but I'll fight and fight. I finished that thought with pride, and I then drifted to a heavy sleep.

OoOoOoOoO

It was at breakfast when Kespen told me I should go watch the videos of the other tributes getting reaped, to take in my competition. I agreed on the idea and walked back to the train car that had the television and sat on the soft sofa. Kespen sat next to me, eating a bowl of cherries. I picked one up and after I swallowed the fruit part I chewed on the pit. We started with District 12, and watched as the 17 year boy stepped up with his brother, both looking underfed and terrified. They wouldn't be too much of a threat.

We went through the Districts, one by one, a few tributes standing out to me. A pair of female twins from 7, both only 15 years old. Another brother and sister pair were only 11 and 12, they were from District 7. We made it to District 6. I spat out my cherry pit as I watched the escort pull out a slip of paper, her green lips parted and read the name. The name that didn't register in my head.

I watched as a tall and muscular boy stepped up with his sister, his face familiar but different. Scared but brave. I stood up. No, no this was just a bad dream. That's not him, it can't be. No this can't be happening. I stood up and walked to the screen, as if getting a closer look would make it go away.

He stepped up on stage and I got a clear view of his face. I heard Kespen say my name but all I could say was, "No, this isn't real, this isn't happening."

The face of the glowing screen belonged to no other then my childhood best friend.

"Sam." I whispered.

The Jones boy seemed to look at my through the television.

I felt my knees buckle and I passed out.


	4. At the Capital

**Hey everyone! I hope you are enjoying this story so far, and if you happen to have any ideas, review and let me know! I'm super open to opinions and ideas, and it would help a lot! I totally love suggestions. Oh and if you have a question feel free to ask. Also:**

**PLEASE READ****: I would love it if someone would be open to being a beta reader for me? I'm super new to Fanfiction, so I'm not really sure how it works, but if you are interested PLEASE PM ME OR SOMETHING. I'M NOT KIDDING I WOULD LOVE YOU FOREVER. **

**Ok! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's not the best one but let me know what you think! It will pick up soon I swear.**

**(I do not own Hunger Games) **

**Oh, and thanks to RosesWithBlackRibbions for the review! I didn't like Mockingjay too much either, but I'm still pumped. :) **

~CallMeAlly

**Wren**

I woke up on my back, the soft cushions of the sofa were warm and welcoming. My head spun around as I struggled to sit up, I used my elbows to support my upper body as I looked around. Mally was prancing around in worry, tripping over herself and her massive high heels. Jay sat down at a chair close to the sofa, his big eyes filled with concern. I looked to my left and saw Kespen kneeling beside me with a glass of water, which I ignored.

I turned to sitting position. "What happened?" I mumbled and grabbed my aching head, suddenly wanting the water. "I have no idea, we were watching the other tributes and you just blacked out." He said as I took the glass from him and took a swig. I suddenly remembered, and felt the cold realization wash over me; like jumping into a cold lake. I dropped the glass on the carpet and it bounced, spilling its content everywhere. I stood up quickly, ignoring my light head and blurry vision. "Quick! The boy from 6! What is his name!?" I snapped, my breathing quickening. Kespen sat me down on the sofa again, obviously not wanting me to pass out once more. "I think Sam Jones?" He said and picked up the glass. "Wren, calm down and talk to me, what's happening?" I tried to calm my racing heart, I realized that Mally left and took Jay with her, so it was again just the two of us.

I felt so many emotions swirl inside of me. I thought I would want to cry, but I only instead felt a burning anger course through me. Then despair. "He's my friend, I knew him when I was younger. We grew up together and… and he's my friend and…" My voice trailed off as I tried to calm my emotions. No, not Sam, not my friend. This wasn't real. The anger bubbled up in my chest more and I snapped at Kespen. "There is no way this is a coincidence, they planned this, they tracked me down and planned it, this can't be happening, this can't be happening." I stood up and without any forethought or hesitation I picked up the glass and threw it at the wall with a grunt. It exploded into a thousand pieces. _First my Mother. _I though bitterly and threw another glass. _Then my Father. _I picked up the remote and threw it at the television, and it cracked in several places. "And now you're taking Jay and Sam!" my shrill voice screamed out loud and picked up a vase by the neck, my arm went back and threw it, and it exploded against the wall, the flowers limply lay there on the floor in the puddle of water.

I wanted to throw something else but I felt hands grab me by my shoulders and roughly sit me back down on the sofa. "Let me go!" I shrieked blindly as I tried to thrash myself out of his grip. "Wren! Wren, shut up and listen to me!" I tried to fight again, but then let myself sit still, my body still tense and clenched in anger. Kespen stood before me, his face hard and dark. "Listean, I cannot even _begin_ to imagine what you must be going through, but we're only an hour away from the Capital, and remember what we talked about last night? I need you to put on a brave face, you _have_ to. For Jay. Push what is happening as far back to your head as possible, alright? You need to get through this."

I let myself relax. "I'm sorry… this isn't like me." I said in a horrified whisper. He stood up. "It's ok, just sit here and calm down for a little bit, get your head straight. We'll be at the capital soon." I nodded, afraid if I talked I would cry. He walked out and left me alone.

I looked around at what I ruined. The flowers limply lay there, they once looked so bright and happy and full of life, but now because of me they look dull and droopy, sad. I wanted to cry at what I had done. I held back tears as I stood and picked up the water pitcher. I picked up each individual flower and placed them in the pitcher, arranging them so they looked happy again. I smiled at how they no longer looked dead, and how I had given them life once more. "I'm sorry." I whispered as if they could understand. I looked them over and tried not to get lost in thought about Sam.

Instead of feeling anger again, I felt relief, even though it seemed hopeless, at least I had someone to be there with, I know I had Jay, but it wasn't the same. I wouldn't need to protect Sam, and in fact, he may even protect me. Maybe him going into the arena with me wouldn't be as bad as I thought. I would have a strong ally, and we could both protect Jay. I felt selfish for being happy about Sam going in with me, but I couldn't help it. Plus I would see him again after years, that would be awesome. I finished picking up my mess, putting the glass shards into the garbage can and picking up the television remote. I sat back on the sofa and decided to try and see if the television still worked. It did, even though the cracks in the screen distorted the picture.

I heard the door open again and Kespen sat down next to me, we exchanged no words for a moment. He looked at the broken screen and we watched the reaping for district 2. "I guess we don't have to worry about there being a career pack this year, right?" I said as I watched the fancy escort reach her hand into the large bowl. I remembered Mally saying that there would be no volunteers this year. "The Capital always finds a way to get what they want, it's obvious that the kids from the upper Districts know they're going to get picked, they're just going to make it seem like they didn't know, but they do." I watched the escort say the names and the cameras went to a boy and a girl, both looking to be my age. I swallowed in fear when I saw the boy. His sick smile and muscular arms. I knew he would be a big threat. "That's Cato's niece and nephew, they're twins." Cato. The name sounded familiar. I gave Kespen a confused glance. "Cato was the winner of the 74th, and he personally trained his niece and nephew, seeing he never had any kids of his own. They're going to be your biggest threat most likely, seeing they've trained their whole lives."

I looked at them. The girl had a small smirk on her face, her arms crossed. She was extremely muscular for a girl, and she had a look of what seemed annoyance on her face. The boy was also strong. He stood much taller and had a disturbing smile on his face. Judging by their faces it was obvious they knew their names would be pulled. I watched in terror as the same thing happened in District 1, the brothers both looking excited and not surprised at all, they also had an appearance that seemed to say they had been training their whole lives.

I felt fear rise up as I looked at them. Their faces seemed broken from the screen.

I quickly turned off the television, not letting the two pairs of blood thirsty tributes bring me terror.

Kespen and I stood up as our train pulled into the Capital.

oOoOoOoOoO

I sat closely next to Jay as we looked out the window, the shining lights and cheers growing louder. I pulled him closer to me as we made our way to the center of the city, people stood by, cheering and waving. I smiled at them and waved back, which made them cheer louder. They all looked so… funny. It was as if they wanted to look as unnatural as possible, with their big and colorful hair and wild outfits. It was as if they wanted to be different, which seemed strange because so many wanted to fit in. "They're cheering loudly for you two, so be sure to make them love you."

The train slowed to a stop, and Jay and I made our way to the main train car, where the doors slid open, revealing a screaming crowd, with only a narrow path to the building before us. Holding my brothers hand tightly, we made our way to the building doors, I waved and shook hands with some of the people, who all seemed extremely excited for this year. Two Peacekeepers that walked in front of us pushed open the doors, and I blew a kiss at the crowd before the doors shut them out. "You're a natural at this." Said Fallu from behind me. "I guess I am." I smiled a little. "The Peacekeepers are going to escort you to meet your stylists now, you'll meet back up later tonight for the chariot ride, alight?" Kespen said with a yawn seeing he had been through the same drill over and over every year. I nodded and wrote in Jay's book.

_Behave, ok? I'll see you later._

He nodded and smiled as we went our separate ways.

I was walked down a long hallway with no doors, it was white and clean and the sound of my shoes echoed along the walls. I wondered what this years carriage ride outfits would be. Normally we were dressed up as cowgirls and cowboys, but since this year was the Quell maybe they had something different in store. I was taken to a dark room with a table in the middle, and lights shinning down on it. I turned around to ask a question but the door shut and I was alone. I gently sat down, afraid to make any noise. I let my legs swing back and forth as I sat in silence waiting,

A door opened and a round lady waddled in, a chubby face and bright purple that stopped at her chin. Her makeup was wild and vibrant as she came over to me. Behind her was a shorter and funny looking man, his hair was brown but his eye lashes were long and green, and he wore a suit that was completely blue. I had to stifle a laugh at how funny they looked. Once the man saw me he medially gasped. "Girl! your hair _has_ to be fake." I tried not to look too confused. "Um, what?" I asked as he lifted a strand of my hair and looked closely at it. "Like, it came out of a bottle, correct?" He questioned in a funny voice. I giggled a little. "Oh no, I was born with it." He gasped so much I knew it had to had made him light headed. "Darling, people would _kill_ for this color!" He kept running his finger through my hair. The lady gave me a chubby smile and opened her bag, pulling out a bunch of different tools. "I am Penny, and this is Frenky." I grinned. "Nice to meet you both."

She pulled out tweezers and walked back to me. "Lie down still now, we have to make you appropriate to show you to Lula." I guessed Lula would be my stylist. I lie still for what seemed forever as they plucked away all of my unwanted hair, and erased old scars and washed the dirt I didn't even know was there from my hair, which made it even more red. I tried to focus on the friendly voices instead of the pain. "Your eyes are _so _stunning." They said as they plucked away at my eyebrows. "Sometimes people will use fake contacts to get that stunning and fierce of a color!" I couldn't help but soak in some of these compliments. Finally they finished and I sat up. I was led to a more open room, a small couch and chair sat in the middle, with a coffee table in the middle.

I sat down and was once again alone. I picked up a cup from the table and took a sip of water and had a moment to appreciate its icy coldness. I set it down quickly once I heard the door open. A short girl walked in, she was much smaller in size then I, even in her high heels that looked incredibly painful. She walked with ease, though, and her hair was pulled back into such a tight and high pony tail I couldn't help but wonder how she blinked. When she saw me she didn't smile or let out a squeal like most people did in the Capital. Instead she circled around me a few times, using a strange stick to poke at me. Her face didn't read any signs of happiness at all. Finally she stood facing me, something about her reminded me of a strict teacher.

Finally she spoke in a very strange and strong Capital accent, something I hadn't really heard before. "So you must be the buzz of the bees, I take it, you and your little brother." I wasn't sure how to respond, seeing she had the most hateful face of anyone I had met so far. "Hm," She said as she slowly looked me over once more. "I can definitely work with it. To be honest she has the prettiest face of anyone from this disgusting district that I can think of." I turned around, expecting to find someone she was talking to, but it was still just me. I tried to not reflect too hard on why she was speaking as if I wasn't standing right in front of her. "The hair is a yes. Good body also, her eyes are well proportioned and she has a smooth smile. Yes, she is for sure a looker." I again turned to see who she was talking to but again there was no one. I held my tongue, afraid that if I asked she would hit me with her stick.

"We'll take her back now, but I want to do her make up first." I just decided that this lady was crazy and I shouldn't concern myself too much with the fact that she kept talking to her second personality. I felt relief when she finally addressed me, guiding me over to a spiny chair that faced a large mirror. "Well, every year for years we have been putting you people in the same outfit, but since the President is so keen on having this year stand out, he's demanded we change the outfits this year." She roughly sat me down in the chair and spun it to face her. "So luckily for you; no cowgirl outfit." I smiled a little at that. Maybe it would be something that would actually make me look good. "Now, now, now, we start on her." I opened my mouth, curiosity taking the better of me. "Why do you talk like tha-" She shut me up by placing her wrist on my mouth, balancing her hand as she delicately drew a black line over my eyelid. I held as still as possible as she painted over my face.

First she used a sort of thick liquid, which was the same color of my skin. _What is the point of that, it wont look any different _I thought, but didn't dare say it out loud. She then used a powder over my face, also the same color. I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed with this contradicting process. She pulled out some pink powder, and rubbed it on my defined cheek bones. "I think her cheek bones are turning out to be splendid." She whispered as she touched them up. I rolled my eyes. She then took some eye shadow and rubbed a thick dose over my eyes, using a gold and green color. She smeared on some more eye liner of different colors, and then put on thick eye lash mascara that made it hard to blink. Finally, after she used a soft brush thing to touch it up again, she put on bright red lipstick, something that I always wanted to try. "Yes, I agree, she pulls it off rather nicely." I smiled at her. "May I look?" She stood up and spun the chair around.

I let out a surprised gasp. I looked myself over as she started on my hair. I still looked like me, but… different. I looked older, braver, and I almost wanted to say… Beautiful. I smiled and watched my red lips curve upwards in the mirror. She ran the brush through my hair and then began twisting it up. She pulled it into a tight braided bun, leaving a few curls hanging down so they nicely framed my face. She took out some scissors and cut off some pieces that hung over my face, so they glided across my forehead and tucked ended up tucking behind my right ear. I smiled again as she finished. "Yes, she makes the bangs work. If only half the people who tried could pull off this fire red, yes?" She started walking away, and I took it as a sign to follow.

"Almost time for the chariot ride, yes?" She asked as she opened a closet and pulled out something covered.

I nodded, wanting to see my outfit this year. "Let's have her take off her shirt and pants now, yes?" I did as I was sort of asked and set them down on the table. "Face the wall, please." I again did so, hearing the bag that held my outfit get unzipped. "She needs to hold her arms above her head now." As I followed her strange commands and I felt my unease grow. This is how the world would first truly see me, representing my District. I prayed that it would at least not be terrible. Everything went dark for a split second as she carefully placed the dress over my head, being gentle to not ruin my makeup or hair. I was almost jogging in place as she zipped up the back. "The anxious girl may finally look at our masterpiece."

I swirled around and looked at myself, freezing in place as my smile slowly dripped away from my face.

It was a short dress, stopping above my knees. It was strapless, and hung a little low, but that didn't bother me too much. It was very tight up until my hips, where it puffed out. It normally would have been a very pretty dress. If it wasn't for the horrifyingly hideous cow pattern all over it. "She doesn't seem to like it… why?" I swallowed. "Well, um, I think it's pretty but, the cow pattern…" She raised an eye brow. "Yes? It is in black and white." I forced a smile. "Yes, sorry, I love it. It's very beautiful." She grinned for the first time. I forced myself to think positively. _It could be worse, and at least it isn't like the past years outfits. _I thought and decided it was best to not push my luck. Besides, my hair and makeup was phenomenal, and the dress fit me nicely. I suppressed a sigh as she placed two horns onto my head, looking like bull horns. I didn't bother telling her female cows didn't have horns. _Better horns then utters. _I thought and forced the lump of disappointment down my throat.

I was placed in matching cow print high heels, which I wished weren't a thing. We made our way to the elevator that would lead to the station room. I found Kespen and Fallu waiting for us there, and once they saw me they both smiled, and I knew they were hiding a laugh. "Come on, it's not that bad." They nodded and Kespen opened his mouth to say something, but Jay came out next to his stylist. He wore a brown and white suit, that was the same print as mine. He also wore the horns. "My, aren't you handsome?" I said as if he could hear me, and straightened out his jacket. "Come on, we don't want to be late." Fallu said with a smile. We stepped into the elevator and made our way down to get set up for the chariot ride. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of seeing Sam.

oOoOoOoOoOoO

**Sam**

I had heard about Wren being in the Games almost as soon as I had my own name reaped. Many people were taking a large interest in Jay, which was no surprise. They wanted this year to be different, and what better way then to send in a young deaf boy. I hardly ever cry, but I sobbed throughout the night on our way here. Wren was too good, too pure, too beautiful to be put in the Games. I was never close with my siblings like how Wren was close to Jay and Sparrow, I loved them, but a lot of the time I only thought of them as people I live with rather then people I want to spend my time with. Living in a house with 4 sisters is tiring.

My sister, Purna, was dressed in some techno and futuristic suit. Over her tight and shiny pants she wore a poofy skirt that was shinning and blue. My costume didn't look much better, but at least I didn't have an ugly skirt.

We stood there as my stylist nitpicked at small details on my shirt, I looked up and saw her. There she was, the same but not the same, older. She was much taller then when I had last seen her, and now had the figure of a woman instead of a young girl, and she looked much more serious then she had in our younger years. But she still had her fire red hair, and her piercing green eyes that reminded me of jumping into a freezing cold lake, but yet at the same time had the same softness of a mother, and a spark of determination. Her eyes. They always said so much, but the spark was always there, and behind that spark there was hope. Her eyes told a story with no words. She smiled when her mentor said something. I missed her smile. Her white and almost perfect teeth were beautiful, if it weren't for one tooth on the side that was slightly crooked. I remembered the small details of her, the ones I never wanted to forget.

She was beautiful, and I have never forgotten that. Beauty radiated around her, beauty _was _her. She even made that cow hide look amazing. I desperately wanted her to look at me, to just make eye contact, to smile at me, to face me. I craved her so badly. I thought I should wave, but before I could I felt a rough punch in my arm. "If you could stop gawking at your girlfriend that would be great." My sister said. I shrugged out my arm and scowled at her. I stole one last glance, her back was now facing me, her hair up, a few strands hung down like pieces of a stream. I reluctantly mounted onto the chariot next to my older sister, who looked annoyed.

We started here. This is where it would all begin, with the chariot ride, where people would look upon us and decide if they wanted to bet on us, where people looked at us like a pawn in their stupid games. I sent a fast silent prayer for Wren and Jay, then for myself and my older sister, who stood by my side emotionless. Today it started.

The horses walked into the building of screaming people

Let the Games begin.


	5. The Chariot Ride

**Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter is so boring, I'm just super pumped for when the Games start so this will start to actually be good, but here's just a little back story of whats been going on with the Capital!**

**Thank you to whoever pointed out my mistake! I went back and fixed it, I never even really thought about it, so thank you! **

**If anyone else has spotted a mistake, let me know! I totally know I'm not the most gifted writer, so it's all good :) **

**Review and let me know what you think! (I do not own Hunger Games)**

**-Ally **

A tall and lean man took long strides down the hall of the clean building that represented the Capital itself. The building stood high, so everyone could see. It sat right in the middle of the bright city, reminding the people on a daily basis the meaning behind it. Though it was large, the man knew exactly were his destination was. He wrapped his long and thin fingers around the cold nob on the door and pushed it open, making several eyes look up from their work in fear.

He showed his teeth in a grin from the momentary fear reflected in the eyes of the workers. They were mere bugs, one easy place of his foot would make them squash underneath him. He knew that better then most, and that would be saying something. He neatly folded his hands behind his back, his lanky and skinny body peering over the shoulders of some, his lips curving when he saw beads of sweat on some of their necks.

A women stepped up before him. She did not fear him like the others, she knew the man too well. "How is the progress coming along?" He said slowly, as if he wanted to drag out the moment. She formally held had her arms crossed, looking out over the men who hunched over their laptops and holograms. "It's definitely coming, we've had a few ideas to make it very interesting, it will be interesting to see how the tributes of that year will take it." He nodded slowly, like one deep in thought. "I want this year to be long. Make it drag out as much as possible. This year was another major disappointment, only three days. Stretch it out as much as you can, not only your job is on the line, hm? You don't want me to remind you what happened to my last Head Gamemaker, correct?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, sir, that will not be necessary. If you want, you can take a look at our progress? We are almost done with a large chunk of the arena already." He held up his hand, a sign she took as a no. "I would rather it be a surprise, yes?" He again curled his lips and showed his teeth, something that would send the chills down the backs of anyone. She swallowed. "Yes, sir," Without another word he stepped out of the room, once out of sight everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. The lady turned around and addressed the room.

"Back to work, we have only one year left. This has to be the best year, our lives depend on it."

oOoOoOoOoOoO

President Snow was a sick and twisted man. He was the second President Snow; the first dyed a few months after the third Quarter Quell, sickness had swarmed over his body, not even top medical scientists could save him. Ultimately the sickness had led up to his cruel demise, but his son had decided that the drop in the popularity of the Games had led up to his dying. He believed he was in such anguish over the fact that the Games no longer had the factor of fear to it that is used to, that it had killed him. His son believed it to be so, so that is what he told the world, and forced them to believe it also.

His home life was rather pleasant. He spoiled his beautiful wife and daughter on a daily basis, and loved them more then his own life, and if you were to ever meet him, you would find it hard to believe.

He was a man the reflected the very depths of hell itself. He went through a different person a year as head Gamemaker, and once they would fail, he would execute them publicly, all in terrible different ways. That seemed to be one of the few reasons people of the capital lived in the shadow of his wrath and never stood up to the terrible creature, because they knew with a snap of his fingers he could have the whole city bombed. He never really seemed bothered by the people of the Capital, his main concern was always with the Districts, because none of them cared anymore. It was like the small candle of light they had had died, and now no one clung onto the hope when it came to the Hunger Games.

The 75th Games were interesting, the Capital demanded that people between the ages 20-25 be sent in. The message was loud and clear for the people: No matter what you do you will never be free of the Games. You're never safe. They will always find a way to win. This did not sit well with the people. Many of the young adults tried to run. They tried to get away because they had thought they were finally free of living in fear, but right when they got their shackles off there came more. The third Quarter Quell caused an uprising, people rioted. Many of the Districts were brutally attacked, and people were killed at their dull attempt of defiance. The Games went on as usual and there came one winner, who was of course a career.

After this a cloud of defeat had settled over the Districts. At first this pleased President Snow. He loved how he had his finger wrapped around them, he liked how he had crushed ever last ounce of the hope many had so desperately tried to cling to. He loved how they had given up. It wasn't until the next year he realized how bad this was. He noticed that no one cared. He realized that the people had grown accustom to this way of life, that since they had been surrounded by no hope they had become used to no hope. No one was surprised at the reaping, no one cried at the loss of their children, no one wept at their murders. It was normal. So no one even watched it anymore. No one turned on the television to see, not anyone in the Districts. Why bother with it when there was no hope.

This did not sit well with Snow. He was furious. For so long the Games were a reminder to the people who was in charge, who had control over them. Now it was just usual. Snow was angry at the plummet of views the Games had, he was upset that they now only lasted a few days. So he tried everything, and every time the current year was far worse then the last, and every year he would kill the Gamemakers. He tried so much, but he knew as well as everyone that no matter what, no one had hope in the world they lived in.

The end of the 99th Games had started with plans for next year. He replaced the Gamemaker, even though he had already started on the arena. He replaced the last one with this girl, who had come to a conclusion. Every year was the same, and every year had been failing. Instead of brutally murdering she decided there needed to be a story, something that would keep people interested. She had an idea to propose to Snow, and knew he could not dislike the idea.

"Snow," She said formally as she stepped into the dark room.

"Yes, yes, you may enter."

She stayed standing. "Sir, I had an idea for next year that I wanted to see what you thought about it."

"I'm listening." He said and leaned forward with interest.

"How would feel about you hand picking your own tributes for next year?"

He thought about it for a moment, interested in the proposal.

"I think I quite like the idea."

She nodded with a small smile in relief.

"I will get on that, you are dismissed."

She left the room

Snow personally picked his own tributes, of course no one knew, but he did. He researched many siblings, tried to hunt down the most interesting ones, tried to find ones that would make for an interesting year. He picked Cato's niece and nephew, two children who trained their entire lives, Cato was almost over age, but he would make it and exception. He picked his own career group, he picked twins and he picked young siblings and older ones. He researched deeply and even went to some Districts to try and find interesting tributes.

When he was trying to find a pair for Ten, he finally came upon Wren and Jay, and knew that they would make the Games very interesting, and he was even more excited when he found out about Sam from 6. He knew they would make a very good group, for he had tracked the letters between the two of them.

There was another reason he picked Wren, though. When he saw her picture, her defined face and high chin, her red hair that stood out, her uplifting smile, he saw something he hadn't seen in the face of someone from the Districts in years. He saw hope. So, unfortunately for her, he picked the two unlikely pair, and dragged Sam in too. He wanted a story, and would do anything to get it.

oOoOoOoOoO

**Wren**

I watched the chariots of the other Districts go into the building, and then felt the tug of our horses go. I wrapped my fingers around Jay's hand, and took a breath fear as we pulled into the building, cheers surrounded me and I tried not to slink back in my anxiety. I heard people scream as we passed, many cheered and some even laughed at our ridiculous outfits, but I blocked those people out. I knew we stood out from the others for Jay being deaf, and many people cheered the loudest for the two of us as we rode past.

Roses were being thrown, and the funny looking people cried tears of excitement. It had by far been a very long time that this many citizens had come so riled up to the chariot rides, the stadium had only been half full for the past 15 years, but now it was overflowing with screaming fans just hoping to get a glimpse.

I tried to smile and wave, but the lights blinded me and I got delusional by that and the noise. I blew kisses in random directions, knowing that would help make me stand out. I stole a look at Jay who was doing fine himself, waving and smiling. We finally pulled to a stop next to two other chariots, I looked up in a slight dave to the a stand, and Snow slowly walked out in front of the screaming Capital people. He felt them cheer for a moment before slowly holding up his thin arm. Though he was far away I still got a good view of his boney face and hunched over figure, he resembled nothing of his father but his beady eyes that held no emotion.

"Welcome, to the _100th Hunger Games!_" He cried and the screams started again. He held up both hands _"May the odds be ever in your favor!" _More cheers.

For a split second his black eyes seemed to meet mine and I felt a mix of fear and disgust rise in my throat. He turned his back and was gone. I wanted to kill him right then and there. The new head Gamemaker stepped up and with a smile she said, "Good luck to this years tributes!" And then it was over. The horses turned around and trotted back the way we came, I blew more kisses and waved, and we were back.

I took a moment to breathe, grateful that it was over. I felt someone offer me a hand and I took it and stepped down, taking off my high heels that pinched my toes. "Nice job, kiddo, they loved you two." I smiled at Kespen who approved of the ride. "Let's head back up to the room." I gave the horse that pulled us one last pet. She whined and I scratched behind her ear, something my horses loved back home. I started to the elevator, falling behind when I remembered that I hadn't even seen Sam yet. I kept walking, occasionally casting a glance over my shoulder in hopes of seeing his face. We made it to the elevator and just as I was stepping in I felt a big and strong hand grab my wrist.

I whirled around with a huge smile. "Sam!" I screamed, flinging my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest. I heard Kespen's voice before the elevator doors close say, "Don't be too long, dinner is soon." I grinned even more once we were alone. "Sam, oh my Lord, I can't believe this." He unwrapped his arms from around my waist and I was slightly shocked to see tears running down his face even though he was smiling. "Wren, you look…" I laughed. "I know, don't talk about the ugly dress, its horrible, right?" I realized I was crying, too. "No, it's not that bad." He smiled again. We embraced once more, holding on so tight that it was hard to breathe. "Come on, let's go some place private."

We both went to the floor my room was on, but we sat in the hallway, our feet outstretched and our backs pressed up against the wall. We talked. For the first time in several years, and though I had imagined it to be awkward, it wasn't. In fact in was so normal that it was just plain natural. It hadn't seemed like years, just looking at us you would think that we hadn't go so long without exchanging words. We laughed and I filled him in on everything. "Read any good books?" He asked. "I'm almost done reading Les Miserables! I cried so many times throughout it, holy cow." He laughed. "I wish I could read it."

There was a silence and I turned to look at him. He was defiantly still Sam, and he still had that messy piece of hair that hung down on his forehead that he would vainly try to push out of the way. His dusty hair was still messy, but now it was shorter so it looked kind of cute. His eyes were still deep and smart, and he had a strong jaw bone that I remember him clenching when he was upset. He was no longer short, in fact he was very tall, and had a surpassingly strong build. I took a moment to admire his muscular forearms and tried to suppress myself from blushing when he caught me starring.

Instead of making it awkward he just laughed like he does and sighed. "Man, we've grown up, huh?" I grinned and leaned my head back against the wall. "for sure. I missed you so much it kind of hurts every part of me to think about it. I'm glad we're together, even though it's in this sucky situation." He looked at me. "Yeah," I stood up and smoothed out my dress and he stood too. "I better get back to Jay before he starts to worry about me." I knew we were both thinking about the same thing. That we would have to put up with the other dying, that we would be against each other soon, that we would be forced to protect our family instead of each other. It was obvious and I hated how terrible the situation was.

He smiled as I opened the door. "Wren?"

"Hm?"

"Just so you know, I'll do whatever to takes to protect You and Jay."

I smiled, my heart swelling.

"Thank you." I fought for words.

"Goodnight." He turned a corner and was out of my view.

oOoOoOoOoOoO

I slept peacefully in my massive bed, I didn't dream, or at least not one I could remember. It would be a rough three days of training, but I had a new hope that fanned my flames to burn a little brighter, and maybe that was all I needed to get though the Games.

I would not keep telling myself that at least one of us had to die.


	6. Training

**Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you like this chapter it has FLUFF. Let me know what you think, please please review!**

**Also let me know if you have any suggestions on the story! **

**-Ally**

**Wren**

I woke up before everyone else, just like usual. I saw a pair of tight black pants and a loose gray tank top folded neatly on top of the chair by my bed. I rolled out of bed and slipped on the pants, trying to wiggle in seeing they were tight. I put the tank top over my head and adjusted it a little before looking myself over in the mirror. I didn't put on any makeup and just pulled my hair back into a sloppy bun, knowing it would be pointless to dress up and impress everyone. But then I realized Sam would be there so I made my sloppy bun a little less sloppy.

I woke up Jay, who pulled the blankets over his head in protest. I didn't try to fight him seeing we had an hour or two until training. I turned on the lights that showed the grand living room, I picked up a hard boiled egg and plopped down on a chair by a window that over looked the entire city. Clouds hung over the city, and rain gently tapped on the window. I used to love days like that back home. No one would go and work seeing it was too muddy, and Mama always insisted on us going to splash in the mud.

I couldn't help but long for Sparrow, I wonder what he was doing. He must be so lonely. I knew he would be ok though, he would have the support of our friends. I wanted to go home so badly. I missed the horses and the cows and the endless hills. I picked off the last piece of shell from my egg and bit into it, not really tasting much.

I tried to focus on today. I needed to learn how to do something. I knew a lot about saving people, what medicine did what, how to bandage something, how to stop bleeding. I knew a lot. I had helped with surgeries and chocking victims. I had done it all, so that would be a plus in the Games. Then again I didn't know how to use any weapon whatsoever. Sometimes I would use an axe to cut off the heads of chickens for dinner, but that was rare. The more I thought about it the more I realized how I honestly had no idea were to even begin with killing people. I couldn't do it, how could anyone look into the eyes of another life and feel ok with taking it away? It was disgusting.

I heard some noise in the other room so I walked in, everyone else was up and eating breakfast. I ran my fingers through Jay's messy brown hair while he took a massive bight of a bagel. "Better eat some food, don't want you to be hungry for training." Fallu said with a smile. I grinned back. "I already ate, thanks." I sipped some orange juice as I waited for everyone else to finish, I was on edge and nervous, but ready to get a good view of my competition. Once everyone was finished we made our way back to the elevators, I was practically jogging in place.

"Alright, kiddo, we decided I would focus on training you, and Fallu would help Jay. So today you have to learn some basic fighting moves, got it?" Kespen said as he pushed the button that would bring us to the first floor. I barely heard him. "Right, fight moves, got it." I looked at Jay who was writing in his notebook to Fallu. "I can't go in there with you, but there will be some practice rings with instructions, so maybe you and your buddy can brawl a little together." I rolled my eyes at that sarcastic remark.

The doors opened to the large stadium, and I was overwhelmed by everything that was there. Most of the tributes were already down, The boy from 1 was using a bow and arrow as he shot targets, and his brother stabbed at a gel dummy with knifes. They would be a big threat, both have apparently trained since birth, and they looked like they could snap my neck with a flick of their wrist. I saw the brother sister pair from 2, Cato's niece and nephew. They were just as horrifying as the pair from 1, I saw blood thirst and hatred in the pale eyes of the boy, who swung his sword at his sister, which she easily blocked with one of her own. I knew they would be the biggest threats. We stepped in among the other kids, some looking just as confused as us, I separated from Jay and Fallu, as they went to go find him a weapon. "Remember, I can't go with you, Jay can have Fallu go because he is handicap and needs assistance, but remember what we talked about." Kesepn said as he went to where the other mentors were. I nodded and made my way to the weapons table.

I saw Sam there and I stood by his side. He grinned when he saw me. "So what's your weapon?" I asked and shot him a smile. "I have no idea, but hey, I guess we can figure it out, right?" He picked up a big knife. "Wanna try some hand on hand combat?" I asked, gently taking the huge knife from his hands and setting it back down in unease. "Sure, you're right, pointy things probably aren't something good to start off with." I laughed, glad we decided to take my mentors advice. We made our way over to an empty brawling ring, and I cast a quick nervous glance over my shoulder at the career group, a sinking feeling settled in my gut when I saw they were talking amongst themselves, already making up their pack. I shuddered as I watched, the boy twin from two looked up and locked eyes with my for a second, I quickly looked away, wanting to vomit.

We made it to the ring, and I saw instructions on the side of the gate. "So do you just want to… have at it?" I asked awkwardly as I looked over the different fighting moves. "Uh, I guess?" Sam said as his eyes ran over the paper too. I stepped in the middle. "Here, why don't you try throwing some punches and maybe I can try some blocks?" He nodded in agreement as we stepped in the ring. We both took a fighting stance. He bobbed up and down, moving his right hand a little as we circled. I knew Sam was right handed, and I knew he would try and give a blow to the face, so I was ready for when the attack came. He swung out just as I had thought, and in a quick ducking motion I easily dodged it. I popped back up and tried to kick him in his stomach, but he grabbed my foot with both hand and twisted, causing me to turn to the side and hit the ground hard. Shocked, I sat up, starring at him. "Did I hurt you?" He asked as he gave me a hand. "Where did you learn that?" I asked and brushed myself off. "I dunno, I guess it was just instinct?"

We practiced more and more, until my body ached and I was sweating, but we kept going. I managed to hit him with a few good punches, but he had he advantage seeing he was very strong. After a while I needed a break, so I sat down in the middle of the ring, breathing heavily as Sam sat next to me. After we caught our breath I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. "It's so not fair." I said through gritted teeth. "Everyone has something that's gonna give them a chance in the Games, and then there's me. I can't do anything, I don't have a weapon or a special skill." Sam stood up. "Don't worry we'll find something. Wren, you're incredibly smart, so that's like a weapon of your own. You'll be ok." I looked over at Jay, who was learning different ways to tie a knot.

"Right, let's go again."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

All day I relentlessly tried new skills. I mastered the monkey bars pretty good, seeing my upper body strength was on point, I did that a few times in a row, before I decided to try something else. I tried out a few weapons but they were all either too heavy or too confusing. I was good at knots seeing I knew how to lasso cattle back home, and I had good aim when it came to throwing knifes. I thought maybe that could be my thing until I saw the boy from 1 hit the target every time. Giving up on that, I went and tried to see my skill when it came to matching leaves and seeing which ones were poisonous or not. I did very good on that test, getting all right but one. I kept casting glances back at Sam and his sister, who also practiced different skill sets. All day I tried knew things, and was surprised at how fast I caught on.

It was near the end of the day and a few tributes were leaving to go back up to their level. I stretched up my arms and felt the satisfaction of my muscles tremor from the pull. My eyes made contact with Sam, who stood by his sister. We waved and I started making my way over, I paused when I heard bickering, and I looked behind me to see the boy from 2 shoving the young girl from 7, with the boy form 1 standing by and laughing. Terror was filled in her eyes as he mocked her, she couldn't run seeing he had her tightly pressed up against the wall. Her eyes darted back and forth and tears started streaming down her face

Red filled my vision and rage filled my chest as I stormed over to him, I roughly shoved him in the side, and to my satisfaction he stumbled and had to catch himself, the boy from 1 grabbed his arm to help steady him. "Pick on someone your own size." I growled at him. Our eyes met and locked. Tension filled the air like smoke. I saw a mix of anger, hatred, shock, and surprise. But behind all of that I saw something more terrifying; Pleasure. He yanked his arm free of the boy form 1 and took a long stride to me, grabbing my shoulders and shoving me roughly against the wall.

My head hit the hard brick with a crack that momentarily filled my eyes with water, which I forced away by blinking hard. His eyes locked to mine again and his hands dug into my shoulders. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he stomped his foot over mine, making it impossible. He moved his face only inches from mine, his disgusting breath was warm against my face. His eyes slowly scanned me, looking me up and down as his body was only inches from mine, I forced my chin upright to show no fear. Finally he looked me back in the eye. I wanted to gag. "You're going to regret making enemies with me." He hissed. With the little room I had I again tried to yank free in vain. "You don't scare me." I whispered back. Our eyes held, and he laughed. "That's going to be the mistake that will end your life, Birdy." I swallowed before I heard the voice of his sister from behind him. "Theo, enough." After another long moment of tension he finally broke his gaze and released me.

I noticed many of the tributes had gathered around, along with a few Peacekeepers. He pointed at me before walking away. "I'm going to be the one to end you, and I'll be sure to make it something _very_ memorable." I tried not to let my eyes show fear as he strode away.

oOoOoOoOoOoO

"Are you an idiot?!" Sam asked as we sped walked out of the arena to the elevators.

"I couldn't just stand there and let him be a jerk to her!"

"Wren, this isn't a schoolyard playground we're talking about, this is life or death! Now you're first on his hit list, and he's already a huge threat!"

"I don't care, somebody had to stand up to him he was being a jerk!"

"Wren, I don't think you understand what you've just done."

"Who cares, maybe this will just blow off by tomorrow."

"Ugh, Wren, you're such a moron."

"At least I did the right thing."

"Standing up to people here is seriously going to kill you, look just forget it. Look meet me here tonight, okay? I have to go."

"Fine, and look, don't worry about it. I know how to handle bully's, in case you're forgetting."

He rolled his eyes and then the elevator doors shut, blocking him off.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I could hardly eat dinner, my stomach was definitely upset. I had to listen to Kespen scold me for being such an idiot, and I couldn't get the image of Theo out of my head. His stare of hatred and blood thirst. I surpassed a shudder. I zoned back in to hear Kespen finally end his rant. "Hopefully this will all be blown over by tomorrow and he'll have just forgotten about it, but something tells me it wont. Listen, the best thing we can probably do now is to get some rest, you still have two more days of training, and on the last day you have the performance." Everyone got ready to sleep, as the avoxes cleaned up the mess. I followed Jay to his room and helped him climb into bed. I ran my fingers through his hair as he quickly wrote something down.

_I thought you were very brave._

I smiled and kissed his forehead before writing:

_I love you very much, you know that right? Have a good night of sleep, we have another big day tomorrow._

He smiled and nodded before he made the heart sign with his hands, something my Mama had made up as a sign for 'I love you'. I grinned and kissed his small hands before leaving and turning off the lights.

I snuck through the dark until I made it to the door, opening it slowly as to not make any noise. I stepped out and shut it silently, flinching slightly as it clicked. I ran to the elevator and pressed the floor that had the training arena on it. Once there I walked to the hallway Sam told me to meet him at. It was long with a few doors along side it. He wasn't there, so I sat down and started curling a lock of my hair around my finger while I waited.

Right when I was worried he wasn't coming I saw him turn the corner. Grinning, I waved him over to my spot. "Hey, guess what?" I gasped loudly when he pulled out a guitar from behind his back. Jumping to my feet ,I grabbed it from him.

"Sam! Where on earth did you find this?!" He handed it over and I ran my hands down its smooth brown wood in awe. He laughed and plopped down by my side. "Well, I found out you can pretty much request anything within reason, so first I tried a horse, but that was apparently without reason." I tilted my head back and laughed, still shocked he actually got me a guitar.

"Sam… thank you." I whispered, still running my hands down the side of it.

"Yeah, no problem, think of it as a way of saying sorry for snapping at you earlier." I laughed again, running my fingers over the strings and feeling the pleasure of the noise it made. "Believe it or not, I haven't played in years." I said as I tuned it, amazed at the smoothness of the instrument. "Really? How come?" He asked. "Dunno, just when my dad died I didn't have time, ya know?"

He mumbled in agreement.

"Hey," I said and nudged him in the thigh with my knee. "Remember that one time we were swimming in the river and Manthy made the rope swing?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I was hanging with them a few months after you left and we were playing on it, and Sparrow tried to do a back flip off of it but it couldn't hold his weight and he broke off the branch!"

Sam laughed. "I can totally see that happening, and it's a shame because that rope swing was the best!"

So we sat like that. Retelling stories from our childhood and filling each other in on our lives that we had missed out on. He told me about his sisters, and his parents, and a job he got at a factory that involved lifting heavy boxes. That would explain the muscles. I told him about Jay, and how he was getting so much smarter. How he loved to read and do math. We talked about school, and I told him all about the medical things I had learned the past few years. We talked and talked, I ran my fingers over the strings and my heart filled with bliss. It reminded me so much of old times. Of hanging out with him by the fire, telling ghost stories and laughing at jokes. I wished it could always be like this. After a few hours the question finally came up.

"So, any fellas you got an eye on?" He asked with a mischievous smile.

"Ha! Are you kidding? What with all my spare time and what not." I laughed. "Well, there's this one boy that works at the hospital, he's always trying to ask me on a date, but I need to focus on Jay, ya know? Besides I don't even like him. What about you?"

He sighed. "Nope. No one. Not a lot of girls work at the factory, and besides that fact all the girls I come across I'm not interested in."

I wasn't sure how to take that. So I just mumbled.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. I hummed a tune as I strummed. Finally I caved into my weariness.

"I better head up, thanks for talking to me, and thank you so much for this." I said and held up the guitar. We both stood up.

"Um, Wren? Before I die I don't want to regret not… um… doing this."

He stepped forward and pressed his lips against mine.

OoOoOoOoOo

I had read a lot of books that described what kissing felt like. Some described it as an explosion of emotion. Some said it was like fireworks shooting off inside you. I always pictured it to be something that made my heart melt inside me. Something that made so many emotions come up. Something that would make my stomach rise. Something that would make me excited, nervous, pleasured, risky. This kiss was not that. This kiss was just nice. It was warm and soft. It was normal and sweet. It was natural. I loved it so much. Once our lips parted I smiled. I wasn't out of breath, because it wasn't one of those kisses. It was just gentle.

"I'm glad you finally did that." I laughed.

He laughed too. "Wren, I think I'm in love with you."

This did not come as a surprise to me. I was in love with him, too. At least I'm pretty sure. "I love you, too."

I picked up my guitar. "look I better get to bed, we have another big day, but thank you, for… that." I smiled.

He laughed and we went our separate ways.

OoOoOoOoOo

I crawled into bed with a warm feeling still spread out through me. I loved Sam. We were going into the arena together, I had to fight for Jay, this was madness. But the kiss was wonderful, and even though I was bound to die in a few days, I slept peacefully, still holding onto the feeling of his lips on mine.


End file.
